BSE Sensex jumps 157 pts to 11-week closing high

The Bombay Stock Exchange index Sensex on Friday rose for the fourth straight session, up 157 points on sustained buying by funds and retail investors in bluechips led by Reliance Industries (RIL) amid a firm trend in the Asian markets.

The 30-share index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, which had gained over 338 points in the last three sessions, advanced further by 156.80 points to 17,233.98 as heavyweights RIL and Infosys made good gains.

While RIL shot up 3.48 per cent, Infosys by 2.29 per cent. The two carry nearly 20 per cent weight on the Sensex.

The 50-issue NSE index Nifty regained the crucial 5,200 mark by adding 46.40 points to close at 5,204.70, even as Ranbaxy Laboratories recorded a steep fall.

Brokers said that apart from a firm trend on other Asian markets, hopes of easing liquidity in the market after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 0.50 percentage point in its policy review, buoyed the trading sentiment.

Ranbaxy, the country's biggest drugmaker fell the most in almost nine months by losing 6.62 per cent because of the costs to be incurred under the proposed settlement with US authorities over manufacturing rules violation.

- with PTI inputs